The tourism sector expressed indignation yesterday with the Malaysian government's new requirement that visitors from Taiwan produce health certificates proving that they do not have severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS).
Viewing the demand as discriminatory, travel agencies appealed to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to confer with the Malaysian authorities to repeal the regulation on the grounds that this country is not a seriously-affected SARS area as are China and Hong Kong.
The agencies also threatened to take steps to boycott tourism to Malaysia if their protest is ignored by authorities in Kuala Lumpur.
They said the new requirement that Taiwanese bring health certificates issued near to the date of their arrival in Malaysia is a very unfriendly move, as it takes at least three to five days for the people to prepare the papers.
Also, none of the public-run hospitals in this country are willing to issue such certificates at present, they said.
The Taipei Association of Travel Agents said that it wrote to the Malaysian Friendship and Trade Center in Taipei appealing for more lenient policies.
The association asked the Malaysian government to allow a grace period of three to five days for Taiwanese to prepare their health papers and to allow the health certificates to be written in Mandarin.
An association spokesman said that as of yesterday, the group had still not received any response from the Malaysian Friendship and Trade Center in Taipei.
However, foreign ministry spokesman Richard Shih (
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